The contactor may be used, for example, in conjunction with high voltage relays in which the movable and fixed contacts of the relay are mounted in a gas-filled envelope; and in which terminal pins extend through the envelope in radial directions, the terminal pins also serving as fixed contacts for the relay. The terminal pins are usually formed of tungsten, since that material is ideal insofar as the fixed contacts of the relay are concerned.
In the prior art relays of the type described in the preceding paragraph, connector tabs, usually formed of nickel, are spot welded to the terminal pins, and electrical connecting wires are soldered to the tabs. It has been found that the tungsten terminal pins are not a suitable material for spot welding due to the fact that they are formed by a sintering operation and their surfaces have a tendency to crumble. Therefore, not only is a relatively poor electrical contact established between the tabs and the terminal pins by the spot welds, but the tabs have a tendency to break off and come free from the terminal pins.
In accordance with the present invention, the spot welded tabs are replaced by spring-type connectors which have coiled portions wrapped around the terminal pins to grip the pins with a high pressure and which present a relatively large surface area to the pins as compared with the spot-welded tabs, for good electrical contact. The coiled portions of the connectors each has a first section which is wound in one direction about the terminal pin and a second section which is wound in the opposite direction. In this way, any tendency of the connector to turn about the axis of the terminal pin is one direction or the other produces a corresponding tightening of one of the coiled sections or the other, so that in either event the connector is held tightly on the terminal pin.
The connectors of the invention, as will be described, may be formed of any appropriate electrically conductive resilient material, such as beryllium copper or phosphor bronze wire; or they may be in the form of tabs each having oppositely coiled resilient sections which receive the corresponding terminal pin in a tight resilient fit.